Paris 2024 Olympics: Arshad Nadeem’s monstrous 92.97m throw that ended Pakistan’s 40-year wait – Watch

Neeraj Chopra’s hopes of winning a second successive gold medal to add to his first in Tokyo did not materialize and the Indian had to settle for a silver medal in the men’s javelin throw final at the Paris Olympics on Thursday night -fair. Chopra, who reached the final as favorite with a brilliant shot of 89.34 meters in qualifying, threw the javelin in 89.45, his second-best throw ever, a clear improvement on the 87.58 that won him the medal. of gold in Tokyo. But that wasn’t enough for the reigning world champion and Diamond League final winner as Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem, his good friend on the tour, surpassed him to set the Olympic record to win the gold medal.

Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem broke the Olympic record in the men’s javelin final with a monstrous leap of 92.97 meters to outshine the Indian gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics. Nadeem finished fourth in Tokyo and battled injuries and financial crisis in the intervening period,

But on Thursday, Nadeem put in a sensational effort to win gold.

That gigantic throw of 92.97 put Nadeem at the top of the rankings and he remained in that position achieving throws of 88.72, 79.40m and 84.87m and then ended the competition with a throw of 91.79 meters, the second time he had someone crossed the 90m mark twice at the Olympics, as he became Pakistan’s first gold medalist in individual competitions at the Olympics.

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Anderson Peters, from Granada, won the bronze medal with a best throw of 88.54 meters.

Chopra started the final with a foul on his first attempt, Nadeem also fouled on his first throw, while Trinidad’s Keshorn Walcott took the lead with a throw of 86.16m, while Anderson Peter was second with 84.70.

The Indian star did not look convincing with any of his shots except the second innings which was his only legal shot of the night,

Chopra also made history for India, becoming the second Indian man and third overall to win a consecutive medal at the Olympics, after wrestler Sushil Kumar, who won bronze and silver at the 2008 and 2012 Games. PV Sindhu is the another Indian to win back-to-back medals – silver in 2016 and Tokyo,

Neeraj’s silver medal was India’s fifth medal in Paris, one silver and four bronze. The Indian has been struggling with injuries in recent years and it appears the effects are still lingering. The javelin throw event at the Paris Olympics was so difficult that Julien Webber of Germany, silver medalist in Tokyo, had to settle for sixth place.

But his expectations were so high that the silver medal was disappointing, but Neeraj couldn’t do anything on Thursday as Nadeem was too good for everyone on Thursday.

But Nadeem practically killed the competition in his second throw, throwing a monster throw of 92.97, leaving everyone in the stadium stunned. With this throw, Nadeem broke the existing Olympic record held by Andreas Thorkildsen of Norway, who threw 90.57 in Beijing 2008. It is also the sixth best throw on the all-time list.

Chopra kept the pressure on friend and opponent with a throw of 89.45 in his second round and moved into second position. The 26-year-old from Haryana made three free kicks in the next four laps, ending the Paris Olympics with a silver medal.

Nadeem became the first Asian to surpass the 90m mark in the javelin throw at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Chopra never surpassed the 90m mark. Nadeem won the first individual gold medal for Pakistan, which has so far won only three gold medals at the Olympics – all in hockey.

Only two Pakistanis have won individual medals – both bronze medals won by Muhammad Bashir in men’s welterweight wrestling in 1960 and by boxer Hussain Shah in men’s middleweight wrestling in 1988 in Seoul.

The men’s hockey team won Pakistan’s last medal at the Olympics, a bronze in Barcelona in 1992. Nadeem is expected to end a 32-year Olympic medal drought for Pakistan. The country won its last hockey gold medal in 1984 in Los Angeles.